Climate Change effect the US west more than anticipates: Groundwater Depletion in Colorado River Basin Big Risk

An artist’s rendering of the twin satellites of NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE). Using data from this mission, scientists have determined that a vast volume of groundwater has been depleted from the Colorado River Basin over the last decade. Credit: NASA/JPL Let’s step back for a minute and consider the implications of the study released last week on the depletion of groundwater in the Colorado River Basin. For anyone concerned about the future of the American West, the findings of this study – which was published online in the journal Geophysical Research Letters and conducted by a team of scientists from NASA, the University of California-Irvine, and the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado—can make the heart pound. Let’s start with a little context above ground, before going below. Lake Mead is the largest reservoir in the...